LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Banks are going to figure out a way to extract revenue from the customer in any way, shape or form.”
Stanley J.G. Crouch,
chief investment officer at money manager Aegis Capital Article, 1DJudge halts suit against Ticketmaster
A federal judge has halted proceedings in an Arkansas lawsuit against Ticketmaster until a lawsuit against the company in California is resolved.
U.S. District Judge James Moody on Friday granted Ticketmaster’s motion for stay until a settlement in the Schlesinger v. Ticketmaster case is approved and it has been determined whether the pact includes claims in a lawsuit by Arkadelphia resident Corey McMillan and other customers.
McMillan sued Ticketmaster after he said he was charged nearly $50 in fees to buy four tickets to a country music concert. He alleges Ticketmaster violated Arkansas’ law on deceptive trade practices.
An attorney for McMillan didn’t immediately return messages seeking comment Friday afternoon.
Ticketmaster spokesman Jacqueline Peterson said in an e-mail that the company had no comment because of the pending legal matter.
For week, active oil, gas rigs dip by 5
HOUSTON - The number of rigs actively exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. is down by five this week to 1,966.
Houston-based oil-field services company Baker Hughes Inc. reported Friday that 1,421 rigs were exploring for oil and 541 for gas. Four were listed as miscellaneous. A year ago, Baker Hughes reported 1,882 rigs.
Of the major oil- and gas-producing states, Texas added 12 rigs and was the only state to increase by more than one. California, Oklahoma and West Virginia added one each.
Louisiana lost seven rigs, and New Mexico dropped by five.
Pennsylvania was lower by four rigs, Colorado by three and Arkansas by two. Alaska, North Dakota and Wyoming were unchanged.
The rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981 and bottomed out at 488 in 1999.
Berkshire to add Waco paper in Texas
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has agreed to buy the Waco Tribune-Herald to expand in Texas as Chairman Warren Buffett extends his bet on community newspapers.
The purchase from the Robinson family of the 34,000-circulation-daily newspaper is expected to be completed by July 31, according to an e-mailed statement Friday from Berkshire’s Omaha World-Herald Co. that didn’t disclose terms.
“This is a very strong, growing market with terrific assets including Baylor University” and a new research park, Terry Kroeger, chief executive officer of the Omaha World-Herald, said in the statement.
Buffett has said newspapers must rethink whether to offer free content on the Internet, and that publications with a community focus can thrive in markets where there is little competition. Omaha, Neb.-based Berkshire announced a deal last month to buy 63 newspapers from Media General Inc., in a $142 million deal.
More time given for fracking input
The Obama administration on Friday gave U.S. natural-gas producers more time to comment on draft standards for disclosing chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing, rules an industry group has said are unnecessary.
The Interior Department will add 60 days to the comment period, spokesman Adam Fetcher said. Comments on the fracking-disclosure rules had been due by July 10.
“To ensure that the public and key stakeholders, including industry and public-health groups, are able to provide important feedback that will help inform a final rule, Interior has decided to extend the public-comment period,” Fetcher said. “We don’t expect this extension will have an impact on the timing for a final rule later this year.”
The draft rules, introduced May 4, would require companies exploring for natural gas to disclose the chemicals used in the process known as fracking and adhere to well-design standards.
The Independent Petroleum Association of America, a Washington-based group representing drillers, called the proposed rules “an unnecessary layer of rigidity.”
Fracking, used by companies such as Exxon Mobil Corp.
and Chevron Corp., helped the U.S. become the world’s largest natural-gas producer.
“The rule should not be delayed,” said Amy Mall, senior policy analyst at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
“Americans across the country are concerned about risks to their drinking water and the health of their children near fracking sites and can’t afford to wait.”
PepsiCo looks at a return to Burma
PepsiCo Inc., the world’s largest snack-food maker, is exploring loosened restrictions on investing in Burma as Coca-Cola Co. plans its return to the Asian nation.
“We are evaluating the U.S. State Department’s recent decision to encourage investment ... but have not reached any decisions about future plans,” Jeff Dahncke, a PepsiCo spokesman, said Friday.
PepsiCo, based in Purchase, N.Y., said in 1997 that it was pulling out of Burma after activists urged the company to sever ties with the military dictatorship because of human-rights violations. Coca-Cola will return to the country for the first time in 60 years as soon as the U.S. government licenses the investment, the Atlanta-based company said last week.
Burma is enhancing economic, military and political ties with Western nations after years of isolation that left its 64 million people among Asia’s poorest. The country’s transition to democracy in recent months after about five decades of military rule prompted the U.S. to ease sanctions in May.
PepsiCo shares rose 20 cents to close at $68.70. Coca-Cola increased 27 cents to $74.94.
Carnival’s loss less than expected
Carnival Corp., the world’s largest cruise operator, posted a 93 percent drop in second-quarter profit, a smaller decline than analysts anticipated after booking volumes improved.
Net income declined to $14 million in the quarter ended May 31, or 2 cents a share, from $206 million, or 26 cents, Miami-based Carnival said Friday in a statement. Excluding unrealized losses on fuel derivatives, earnings of 20 cents exceeded the average estimate of 8 cents.
Booking volumes recovered after weakening in the aftermath of the Jan. 13 shipwreck of the Costa Concordia at Giglio island in Italy, an event that led to at least 30 deaths. The improvement came at a cost: It took more price incentives than the company expected to drive demand and spur occupancy, and Carnival reduced its forecast for 2012 yields.
“The increase in booking volumes indicates that a progressive recovery is well underway and we are catching up following the slowdown in bookings during wave season,” Chief Executive Officer Micky Arison said in the statement.
Carnival Corp. shares dropped 92 cents Friday, or 2.7 percent, to close at $33.66. They had gained 5.9 percent this year through Thursday.
Business, Pages 24 on 06/23/2012